Four coursers walked through a great hall, massive archways overhead echoed both on the path forward and back, into an impenetrable gloom. Even knowing that they had only been walking for a few minutes, and that they had not taken any turns, the doorway the party had entered through was already lost far behind them.

So far the journey had been easy physically, even if Limestone would complain later about all the flat stone hurting their hooves. Even the pets of the coursers had dropped off to nap one by one, with the exception of Trout 2.

The osprey had had quite enough of recuperation and had been more than a bit antsy to get back into adventuring, as the nips to Sable over the past few weeks could attest to.

“Kind of an odd dungeon, eh?” Sable perked his ears up a bit, on the lookout for any shifting noises from the walls.

No noises truly answered him though.

His companion’s hooves clicked on the flagstones below, sure, and Trout 2’s flapping from the upper corners of the hallway was a bit stronger than usual, as his feathers were still a bit ragged from their last campaign.

If Sable strained, he could also hear faint scraping and clinking noises from within the walls. Even further and there were also slithering, chirping, groaning, the dungeons themselves alive, hungry, hunting- Sable broke that thought off.

No noises to worry about now.

Fird hummed.

“Yeah a bit… I feel like we are getting into a dangerous zone.” Fird furrowed his eyebrows glancing around them. “Not exactly sure what to expect though, I’ve never encountered this before…” He trailed off glancing at Limestone and Magna to see if they had anything to add.

Limestone flopped his head from side to side, disturbing Stromatolite, their pet slightly. The cat woke up enough to lift it’s head and pin it’s ears back before lying back down.

“Not sure either! Not a cave for sure, and I’d hazard a guess if there are any traps here they are more mechanically inclined. So, I’m not gonna be any help!” They grinned at the other coursers, certainly unworried despite their words.

Magna gave an almighty snort at Limestone’s words, muttering something caustic under their breath.

“Magna!” Sable snapped at the other courser. “You wanted to come with us, you had better suck it up or find some other coursers to travel with.” He grit out at the larger bay.

Limestone, who was far too forgiving anyway, tilted their head towards Fird, who met their probable eye contact in commiseration.

“They can’t get away with being cruel to you, if they don’t have any consequences to their actions then they will continue to trample over other coursers.” Fird whispered to the larger courser. “Also, even if you don’t hear it now, they’ll just get more mean in the future.”

Limestone nodded, even though they did kinda know all that already. It was always easier to see from an outside perspective though, and they would have likely acted the same way if they had overheard Magna saying something unsavory towards Fird or Sable.

The other two coursers seemed to have come to a truce while Fird and Limestone had talked, though both of them were still incensed if the glares they were sending each other were anything to go by.

A few more seconds passed by, the atmosphere still tense with emotion causing the coursers to string out a bit more, Magna in the lead and the other three a few meters behind.

All of a sudden, Lightning, Fird’s goose shot upright from a dead sleep, strongly honking in alarm.

Sable skidded a bit, pricking their ears as the walls nearest the party made a sudden rumbling noise.

All four coursers stood stock still, their pets as tense as they were, hoping against hope that they could avoid fully setting off the trap that was closing around them.

Then- a click. Loud enough that the whole party heard not just Sable.

A soft hissing sound followed as tiny cracks in the walls, now clearly deliberate holes, began to let out a poisonous looking gas.

Magna whinnied in fear before charging forward, hoping to reach fresh air quickly.

Magna breaking away prompted the other three to also break into a gallop after them.

Limestone, pulling ahead due to their longer legs, flipped a corner of their blanket over Stromatolite, hoping that the fabric would help filter out the gas and keep the cat safe. Lightning and Trout 2 soared over Limestone’s head in the direction Magna went.

The gas was now filling the room, creating an increasingly opaque haze. The particles, now too thick to breath in, stung Limestone’s eyes and caused their vision to swim.

Ahead of them, Limestone spied Magna reaching a small door at the end of the hall, bashing against the object to slam it open. Limestone skidded out after them, taking a deep breath of comparatively fresh air. Even the mustiest dungeon tasted as sweet as a fresh breeze after holding your breath for so long.

Magna had their head down, gasping in air after the sprint they had finished while holding their breath.

Then-

Magna turned to face Limestone, both of them staring at each other wide eyed. Then they, as well as Lightning and Trout 2, turned back towards the door still leaking smoke.

Fird and Sable hadn’t made it out yet.